Life, Death, & the Polytheist Revival

Priestesses and Motherhood

Let’s face it, what we think of and expect when we think of a priestess is vastly colored by the cultural impacts of the classical world. We are barraged by imagery of young maidens adorned in ritual robes isolated from the rest of the world in lofty temples in serenity or dancing in wild abandon. These are the kind of images that we have in classical representations that have carried through into neo classical and contemporary art. It is simply what we expect, especially for those following in worship of ancient gods of the classical world. For we also possess the knowledge that the priestess positions to be had were typically filled by maidens or elderly women past their sexual peak and childbearing years. This adds to the expectation that priestesses should not be encumbered with families of their own. Simply because it goes against this vision that seems to…